Influencing Funders

Edge Fund don’t just distribute funds but redistribute power.

Edge Fund’s Influencing Funders Group is four years old! Large donors may be interested to hear that: Edge Fund has been cited as an influence for the Big Lottery Fund, for example in their work supporting 'lived experience leaders'. Edge Fund’s work was so inspiring for the Heinz Endowments that they sent someone from the US to understand our processes. They went on to set up a fund with a similar approach. Edge Fund was profiled in the Ford Foundation’s report on participatory grantmaking, and a recent GrantCraft guide that has been downloaded hundreds of times. Edge was profiled in the recent Civil Society Futures initiative, both in their report and our video was put on their website. Edge Fund was instrumental in advocating for and establishing a new European participatory grant-maker, FundAction, which uses many of the approaches developed by Edge.

Smaller donors may be interested to hear that: Edge Fund’s work inspired a group of activists and funders from across Europe to consider creating a similar initiative. They asked us to present Edge Fund’s approach, and we then supported them to design and launch FundAction, a participatory fund and platform for activism in Europe. Since it’s launch in November 2017, FundAction’s processes many of which are modelled on Edge Fund’s process have funded groups such as Mwasi Afrofeminist Collectif in France, the Magacin social space in Serbia, and a Polish Climate Camp. FundAction was also one of the first supporters of FemFund, Poland’s first feminist fund. FemFund itself was also inspired by the Edge Fund, and uses a participatory approach to giving out small grants to feminist groups facing severe government and societal oppression. Members of Edge Fund, FemFund and FundAction continue to work together to build transnational connections.